Six Flags Roundup

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Pros and Cons for the summer:
~Price of a Season Pass did not go up.
~Season Passholders still get an extra free pass in April.
-Season Pass Coupons are fewer in number and more restrictive.
-Parking Season Passes went up in price by a whole visit.
+++Parking Season Passes are now by cardholder, rather than by car. They are no longer useless.

-DC Heroes Stadium was knocked down. No more Supervillain Spectacular.
-The new Dark Knight ride will not be built.
+The partially complete Dark Knight ride is probably still more interesting to look at than the DC Heroes Stadium.
-The walkway behind DC Heroes Stadium is blocked off, so it is now very hard to get from Superman to Mind Eraser/Batman.
-You have to walk farther to get between the big coasters.
+You no longer have to walk through Wiggles World to get between the big coasters.
-Superman: Ride of Steel is now isolated.
++Superman: Ride of Steel is now isolated.
~My backpack is still totally awesome for amusement parks.
-You are no longer allowed to bring backpacks onto the big coasters.
-You must buy an all-day locker near the park gate or a one-time locker near a big coaster to stow your stuff.
+++One-time lockers are only a dollar and can hold all your stuff during any reasonable trip to the big coasters.
-They took down the Rodeo.
+They were planning on taking down the Catapult.
-They did not take down the Catapult.

+++There is now a Johnny Rockets in the park next to Superman.
-Johnny Rockets is now isolated.
+Johnny Rockets is now isolated.
-They do not have chocolate peanut butter shakes.
++There are now 2 Coldstone Creameries in the park.
-The new one has a limited menu.
-Souvenir Cups went up in price.
+Souvenir Cups come with free all-day refills on day of purchase
[The above two items directly canceled each other out this visit. -- Ed.]
+The Souvenir Cup system can be gamed on subsequent visit with larger groups.

-Half of the people I went with last year are pregnant or married to someone who is.
+I now have a girlfriend willing to go.

Conclusions: Tough call. Season Pass was worth its weight in gold last summer. The summer before, I kinda broke even on it. I invested more this year [bought the parking pass], so I hope it turns out worth it.

Pros and Cons for the day:
+Woke up well-rested
~Dunkin' Donuts Milky Way Hot Chocolate isn't any better than than their regular.
-The weather east of Worcester was gray and icky.
+++The weather west of Worcester was utterly fabulous.
-We got mildly sunburned.
+But really only mildly.
+Got to the park before it opened for the first time ever.
-Getting to the park before it opens involves being ignored by the regular ticket counter.
-Gas Stations also put holds on credit card purchases, so I had to use a different card to buy my Season Pass.
-Getting to the park before it opens also involves being subjected to a silly dance starring Bugs Bunny and being tormented by park staff.
+They accidentally gave me an extra April Free Pass.

+The second row of the first car of Superman: Ride of Steel is still the shortest line in the whole coaster.
+Shorts with zippered pockets are still the best for stowing glasses during rides.
+Watching someone else's cell phone fall out of a roller coaster going 75 miles an hour and exploding onto the pavement is pretty cool.
+Returning it to the Superman Photo booth is also a lot of fun.

+The park was practically deserted.
+No, I mean it, the park was deserted.
+++++We went on Superman five times. We would have gone on more, but they closed the park on us.
++We went on Batman four times.

-The longest lines in the park were for Coldstone Creamery and Pandemonium
++But still were only like 15 minutes.
+I've finally had a non-mint flavor from Coldstone Creamery
~It wasn't very minty.
-I lost Victoria's hat.
+This forced us to go on more rides looking for it.
+Flashback does not kill your brain if you go with less heat stroke.
+Watching oil boil on a hunk of fried dough is cool.

Conclusions: Totally awesome. Still feeling a bit of sticker shock, but I'm hoping the season passes will pay for themselves in subsequent visits.

PS - They gave me an extra Free Pass. Anyone who wants to go this week/weekend, let me know.

Comments

[rosinavs.livejournal.com]

The way to experience Pandemonium is with two adults sitting on one side of the car and a small girl sitting by herself on the other side. Serious spinnage. The second time we went on there wasn't nearly so much due to the fact that we had four adults riding. If that's the usual amount, I can see why you would think it's not a big deal. The little girl was terribly cute, too. And giggled throughout the ride for extra cuteness points.